An amendment, put forth by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), to re-establish a federal ban on certain assault weapons was defeated by a vote of 40-60. A near-united Republican conference voted against the measure, with just one GOP senator, Mark Kirk (Ill.), voting in its favor.

A separate amendment introduced by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to limit the size of magazines to 10 rounds failed with a vote of 46-54. Kirk was again the only Republican to vote for the measure.

Among the Democrat senators who opposed an assault weapons ban, five showed support for a ban on high-capacity magazines: Bennet, Heinrich, Johnson, Mark Udall and Tom Udall. So did King. Ten voted against it: Baucus, Begich, Donnelly, Hagan, Heitkamp, Landrieu, Manchin, Pryor, Tester and Warner.

"I have watched these votes, and I must say I view them with substantial dismay at the lack of courage in this house," Feinstein said ahead of the assault weapons vote. "Courage to stand up and say we've had enough of these killings."

"I know how this is going to end, and the despair and the dismay of families standing out there whose safety we need to protect ... and we don't do it," Feinstein added. "I am really chagrined and concerned. If anybody cares ... show some guts."

"I have a hard time understanding it," she added. "We're here on six-year terms for a reason: to take votes on difficult issues."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid voted in favor of both amendments after announcing his intent to do so in an emotional floor speech Wednesday morning. The Nevada Democrat has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association in the past but said he had to vote his conscience and urged his colleagues to do the same.

Though the failure of both amendments was expected, it was still a blow to President Barack Obama's agenda to curtail gun violence in response to December's elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. (Several Newtown family members watched the vote from the Senate gallery.) It also underscored how skittish even Democrats remain about tackling measures that were law in the not-too-distant past.

When unveiling his gun control proposals earlier this year, Obama called on Congress to pass legislation that included reinstating the assault weapons ban and restoring a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines. But Reid announced last month that neither of the two recommendations would be included in his baseline gun package, because he was well short of the 60-vote threshold to bring legislation to the Senate floor.

Feinstein responded at the time with sharp criticism for lawmakers who she said were unwilling to take a stand against the lobbying of the NRA. "That's the problem with this place, that, you know, the gun lobby is inordinately powerful," she said.

In 62 mass shootings over the last three decades, more than half of mass shooters used assault weapons with high-capacity magazines. Most recently, gunman Adam Lanza used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle when he gunned down 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Authorities said he carried enough rounds of ammunition to kill every child in the school. Similar weapons were also used in the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., the shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and the January 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that wounded former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords.

This story has been updated with the partisan breakdown of the Senate vote against a high-capacity magazines ban.

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Obama's Gun Control Proposal Explained

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The Obama administration will call on Congress to provide additional funding to train public and private personnel at schools to respond to active shooter situations.

The Obama administration, through executive action, encourages school districts to use Comprehensive School Safety Grants to purchase school safety equipment, develop and update public safety plans, conduct threat assessments and train "crisis intervention teams" of law enforcement officers to work with the mental health community while responding and assisting students in crisis.

The Obama administration cites that with technical assistance from the Department of Education, 18,000 schools have already put evidence-based strategies to improve school climate into action. Through executive action, the administration proposes a new $50 million initiative to help 8,000 more schools train teachers and staff to implement these strategies.

To help schools break the cycle of violence, the administration will urge Congress to provide $25 million to offer students mental health services for trauma or anxiety, conflict resolution programs and other school-based violence prevention initiatives.

Under Obama's executive action, the Department of Justice will provide an incentive for police departments that hire officers through COPS Hiring Grants by providing a preference for grant applications that support school resource officers.

The Department of Justice will invest $20 million in FY2013 to give states stronger incentives to share information with the background check system. President Obama signed executive action requiring federal agencies to make crucial records available to the background check system and also to ensure that such records are frequently updated.

President Obama signed an executive action reaffirming his respect for the Second Amendment, but acknowledging that the right to bear arms comes with a responsibility to safely store guns to prevent them from being accidentally or intentionally used to harm others.

Today, guns can be purchased easily from unlicensed dealers or from "straw purchasers" who pass the required background check, but give the guns to criminals. The Obama administration will include an explicit law against straw purchasing and others who traffic guns, including prosecutions for paperwork violations.

The Obama administration recognizes that it is crucial to keep more officers within communities and neighborhoods in order to prevent gun violence. The president calls on Congress to put forth a $4 billion proposal to help keep 15,000 police officers on the streets across the country.

The federal assault weapons ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004 was a first step, but President Obama acknowledged that manufacturers were able to circumvent the prohibition with cosmetic modifications to their weapons. Obama is pressing Congress to introduce legislation reinstating and expanding the ban to include all assault weapons.

President Obama will urge Congress to reinstate the prohibition on ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. Shooters at Virginia Tech, Tucson, Ariz., Aurora, Colo., Oak Creek, Wis. and Newtown, Conn. all used magazines that had a capacity of more than 10 rounds, which come standard with many handguns and rifles.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is required to authorize the importation of dangerous antique weapons that are at least 50 years old. Obama will press Congress to remove restrictions and enable the ATF to ensure that incoming weapons are actually acquired as collectibles and not for putting the weapons in the wrong hands.

Under Obama's executive action, the Department of Justice plans to publish an annual report on lost and stolen guns to ensure data collected by the ATF is available.

Some have erroneously claimed that language in the Affordable Care Act prohibits doctors from asking patients about guns and gun safety. According to Obama's executive action, the administration will issue guidance clarifying this misconception and reiterating the importance of protecting doctors who have discussions on safe storage of firearms, especially if their patients show signs of certain mental illnesses, have young children or have a mentally ill family member at home.

As declared by Obama's executive action, the administration will encourage gun owners to take responsibility for keeping their guns safe through a national campaign promoting common-sense gun safety measures.

Law enforcement can trace a gun's path from it's manufacturer, the dealer who sold it and its first purchaser. However, not all federal law enforcement agencies require a trace on guns they recover and keep in custody. President Obama signed executive action requiring a trace on all firearms.

The president is directing the attorney general through executive action to work with technology experts to review emerging gun safety technology that helps guard against unauthorized access and use.

The Obama administration is urging Congress to take up a Comprehensive School Safety program that will offer $150 million to school districts and law enforcement agencies to hire resource officers, school psychologists, social workers and counselors. The Department of Justice will also develop a model for schools that use resource officers, including age-appropriate methods for working with students.

Students who are suspended or expelled are far more likely to repeat a grade, not graduate or become involved in the juvenile justice system. The Obama administration believes effective school discipline policies are critical to addressing school and community crime and violence issues. Under Obama's executive action, the Department of Education will collect and execute best practices on school discipline policies and help schools implement these policies.

Through partnerships such as the newly proposed Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education), President Obama is urging Congress to take up a comprehensive plan to reach 750,000 young people through programs for early detection of mental illness and swift treatment. Project AWARE includes $15 million for training teachers and other adults who interact with youth to detect and respond to mental illness.

By executive action, Obama announced a plan to finalize regulations that would require group health plans offering mental health care to cover such services at parity under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. Additionally, the Affordable Care Act requires all new small group and individual plans to cover mental health and substance abuse services.

There is some evidence that Medicaid plans do not always meeting mental health parity requirements. In an executive action, the Obama administration issued a letter to state health officials insisting that these plans must comply with mental health parity requirements.